If you casually ask any couple who have stayed in a relationship for a solid number of years, many of them will instinctively point out the “disappointing” aspects of their spouses, sub consciously omitting the things that drew an attraction in the first place.

Experiencing the full blown shortcomings in your other half either at the dating stage or once one is married inevitably leads to thoughts of “What if I made a mistake?”

A behavioral economist’s brilliant analysis of why most relationships fail to work today despite the existence of love

With these thoughts come the “open-mindedness” that perhaps there was someone way better out there. A dream guy/girl if you will.

Ariely however explains this phenomenon through a visual demonstration.

When you take an image of a person and blur it out, the image is generally attractive. However, once you start focusing the image, you may well begin to see some things you may have missed out on initially.

Without a clear perspective, the ball looks okay but suddenly has an unappealing look on a clearer view. Relationships are pretty much the same. PHOTO: Courtesy